Rhapsody in Blue

Grandpa and Grandma treated us to a concert last night at the Hult Center. It was a concert that focused on the music of George Gershwin and other popular works of the 1920s. We were able to enjoy some amazing clarinet playing by a man named Ken Peplowski. When Benny Goodman came out of retirement in 1984 and put together a band, he hired this guy to play tenor clarinet for him. He is really good.

I leaned over to Levi when Peplowski started to play and asked "How come it doesn't sound like that when you play?" It was great for the boys to hear this music especially as they play the sax and clarinet. Maybe it will inspire them to practice when school starts up this fall.

Keeping Cool in Grandpa's Sprinkler

Cooling off in Portland

Watching "Singing In The Rain" at Laurelhurst Park late into the evening with friends.
Blue Lake.

Escaping the Heat by Going to the Seminary

Beating the Heat

We are heading into a hot spell here in Portland. I have heard the prediction of 103 degrees for this week. With no air-conditioning, our house heats up and stays warm so we have to get creative.

Tonight we grabbed cheap pizza to go (Little Caesars - Hot and Ready for $5), some soda, chips, and candy from Safeway and headed to the seminary. The top floor of Todd's office building is air-conditioned and we went into the conference room, sat around the big table, and played Mexican Train (a dominoes game) while we ate. Four hours later feeling refreshed by the cool air we returned home to our hot abode where the indoor thermometer is at its highest mark of 85 degrees...so it could be even hotter. At this point, it is much cooler outside...

Tomorrow we go to Blue Lake and Tuesday we may head to Grandma and Grandpa's if it is too unbearable here.

Back from the Grand Canyon

Todd got home Saturday from his adventure down the Colorado River. He told us that the trip was amazing and that the evidence he saw for a world wide Genesis flood was absolutely remarkable.

Todd with Carl Laney, another professor from Western.

Lazy Evenings of Summer

It is after 10 and all our windows and doors are open. It is about 20 degrees warmer in our house than outside...the thermometer says it is 86 degrees in here...but could it really be? I do have sweat dripping down my calf and all I have been doing is talking on the phone. Whew! It is great evening to store in my memory for next winter when I think I am cold.

The Latest All Comer Track Meet

Both boys ran the mile again. Levi's time was 7:27. Ethan was a little slower with a sore ankle.

The boys ran the 400 meter relay with their friends Cai and Jonah and won racing against 7 other teams. Yay! They each received a blue ribbon.

We enjoyed Blizzards afterwards.

First fruits of my garden

We had tomatoes and zucchini from our garden for dinner tonight. This tomato was amazing!

My Happy Children

All Comer Track Meet

Natalie and Levi entertaining Cente and his friend Christopher in the infield.

Levi long jumping.

The boys after the 400 meter race.

Ethan clowning around on his first lap of predict-a-mile where the winner is the runner who guesses closest to his time. My boys both guessed a much slower time than they actually ran. Levi ran about 7:45 and Ethan was a little over 8 minutes.

Cente "competing" in the softball throw.

Levi in the mile.

Ribbons for all participants!

Cente running the 60 meter with our friend Annika.

Blueberries

Mouthfuls of berries.

Feeling a little sick after eating a lot of blueberries.

Todd's Grand Adventure

Todd is spending the week with 28 other guys rafting through the Grand Canyon with tour guides and a geologist from Answers in Genesis. He was invited to participate in this trip because of his role as a seminary professor. I talked with him early Sunday morning right before he loaded onto the raft. We can't wait to hear all about it from him when he gets home. (There is no cell phone reception in the canyon.)

Driving Us Crazy

This book was checked out from the library by one of my offspring. You can imagine the reaction of the other family members to this new hobby.

Scenes from the 4th

We hung out at home in the hot weather and enjoyed a relaxing day. Happy 16th wedding anniverary to us!

YAY!!

We looked on Amazon today and found Todd's book. It won't be published until April 2010 but it is already listed. Pretty exciting for our family.

Baseball Bragging

Ethan and Levi had their end of the year baseball party last night. They came home with smiles all over their faces. The coach gave out 5 awards and they got 2 of them. Levi won the Golden Glove award for being the best fielder. (He played shortstop.) And Ethan got the Most Valuable Player award. (The coach gave this to one other kid as well. The other two awards were for kids who were most improved.) So they were both feeling pretty good about themselves ....the Miles brothers.

This had been a good season for them. They had a ton of fun. And playing on a team together has given them a great shared experience. Throughout the season I could hear them continutally discussing plays and games together. I could hear them at night in their beds arguing over what happened in a game and laughing together. Before I became a parent, I had no idea of the delight I would receive in seeing the friendships develop between my children.

Surgery Plans Interrupted

I went to the doctor for a pre-surgery consultation for carpal tunnel surgery and after looking at my hands and wrists, the hand surgeon told me that I may have an underlying condition that caused the ct... he immediately sent me to radiology and the lab for xrays of my hands and wrists and 5 blood tests. His office cancelled my surgery and I will return to his office for results of the tests in 2 weeks. I think what I have is rheumatoid arthritis. I don't know for sure but I have all the symptoms I have seen listed and have had pain and swelling present progressively for 2 years.

I was in bed last night feeling a bit overwhelmed. I have been thinking that the pain is my choice because I was delaying surgery...that at any time I could pick up the phone and schedule surgery and it would go away. Now I am faced with the possibility it might be chronic and progressive. I comforted myself today when I looked down at my aching fingers and lumpy wrists with the thought that it is good to be a christian. Someday I'll get a new body. Meanwhile I have a lot of research to do and some healthier living to commit to I think. Of course, my self-diagnosis may be wrong. I will let you know.